Gayle leads MVP race, de Villiers not far behind

Last updated on: March 01, 2015 14:20 IST

Chris Gayle has blasted his way to the top Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings for the World Cup with his Royal Challengers team-mate South African A B de Villiers close on his heels. Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present the updated MVP rankings!

Chris Gayle celebrates his double century against Zimbabwe at the Manuka Oval. Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

This can't be a surprise -- after their thundering knocks Chris Gayle and A B de Villiers have raced to the two top positions in the Most Valuable Player Index, MVPI, at the ongoing ICC World Cup.

The MVPI formula picks out batsmen who score a lot of runs at a high strike rate; bowlers who take a lot of wickets at a low economy rate and fielders who take the most catches or participate in the most run out dismissals.

It does not award any points for good captaincy, or for good wicket-keeping (although wicket-keepers do gain an advantage because they participate in many more dismissals).

With four consecutive victories, including the thrilling one-wicket win against Australia in Auckland on February 28, New Zealand players continue to dominate the table.

Kiwi pacer Tim Southee with the World Cup's highest haul of 13 wickets, and Captain Brendon McCullum with 207 runs at an astonishing strike rate of 188.2 are respectively ranked third and fourth.

There is only one Australian player -- left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc (223; 18), in the top 20, but this is partly because of the abandoned game against Bangladesh because of rain. Opener Aaron Finch (191; 25) is the only other Australian player in the top 30.

You have to really scroll down the table to spot players from England or Pakistan. Only all-rounder Moeen Ali (242; 13) and pace bowler Chris Woakes (163; 34) are in the top 40.

And incredibly enough, no Pakistan player is in the top 50 and just three players figure in the top 100.

Table: Most valuable players so far in 2015 World Cup (after 21 matches, as on midnight of February 28, 2015):

Rank

Player

Team

Runs

4s

6s

Strike Rate

W

Eco

Ct St

Run Outs

M

MVPI

1

Chris Gayle

WI

258

13

17

112.2

5

5.4

3

0

4

457

2

AB de Villiers

SA

217

21

9

155.0

0

0.0

4

3

3

412

3

Tim Southee

NZ

0

0

0

0.0

13

4.9

1

0

4

333

4

Brendon McCullum

NZ

207

28

11

188.2

0

0.0

1

0

4

327

5

Daniel Vettori

NZ

10

1

0

142.9

8

3.3

4

0

4

293

6

Corey Anderson

NZ

112

11

3

107.7

6

4.8

0

0

4

290

7

Trent Boult

NZ

0

0

0

0.0

10

4.0

0

0

4

284

8

Shikhar Dhawan

IND

224

26

3

93.7

0

0.0

3

0

3

264

9

Shaiman Anwar

UAE

208

25

2

114.3

0

0.0

0

0

3

264

10

Tillakaratne Dilshan

SL

185

24

0

98.4

2

5.4

0

0

3

258

11

David Miller

SA

180

9

9

137.4

0

0.0

1

0

3

256

12

Imran Tahir

SA

8

1

0

80.0

9

4.3

0

0

3

254

13

Moeen Ali

ENG

158

18

5

117.0

2

5.6

0

0

3

242

14

R Ashwin

IND

6

0

0

100.0

8

3.8

0

0

3

240

15

Josh Davey

SCOT

21

1

0

48.8

9

5.3

2

0

3

234

16

Sean Williams

ZIM

160

17

1

115.1

2

6.4

1

0

3

229

17

Jerome Taylor

WI

15

2

0

83.3

9

5.6

1

0

4

226

18

Mitchell Starc

AUS

0

0

0

0.0

8

4.2

2

0

2

223

19

Shapoor Zadran

AFG

15

2

0

115.4

7

3.9

0

0

3

223

20

Kumar Sangakkara

SL

151

19

1

118.9

0

0.0

5

0

3

221

21

Andre Russell

WI

69

6

5

237.9

5

6.6

2

0

4

205

22

Lendl Simmons

WI

152

13

7

115.2

0

12.0

2

0

4

197

23

Marlon Samuels

WI

192

16

4

74.4

2

6.5

0

0

4

196

24

Virat Kohli

IND

186

16

0

81.9

0

0.0

2

0

3

193

25

Aaron Finch

AUS

149

13

4

110.4

0

0.0

1

0

2

191

26

Angelo Mathews

SL

90

7

0

67.7

4

5.6

1

1

3

188

27

Paul Stirling

IRL

95

9

3

102.2

2

3.8

1

0

2

188

28

Mohammed Shami

IND

7

1

0

87.5

6

3.8

1

0

2

182

29

Amjad Javed

UAE

69

8

1

116.9

4

5.8

1

0

3

178

30

Shakib Al Hasan

BAN

109

10

2

99.1

2

5.2

0

0

2

173

31

Richie Berrington

SCOT

83

6

1

59.7

5

5.5

0

0

3

167

32

Jean-Paul Duminy

SA

121

9

3

105.2

1

5.6

1

0

2

167

33

Kane Williamson

NZ

149

17

2

85.6

0

7.0

3

0

4

166

34

Chris Woakes

ENG

39

2

0

84.8

5

5.3

1

0

3

163

35

Mohit Sharma

IND

0

0

0

0.0

5

3.9

0

0.5

3

161

36

Mushfiqur Rahim

BAN

107

8

2

112.6

0

0.0

0

1

2

160

37

Mitchell Marsh

AUS

23

3

0

104.5

5

4.4

0

0

2

159

38

Hamid Hassan

AFG

15

1

0

33.3

6

4.8

1

0

3

155

39

Suranga Lakmal

SL

7

0

0

41.2

6

5.3

2

0

3

153

40

Brendan Taylor

ZIM

124

11

3

93.9

0

0.0

3

0

3

153

41

Steven Finn

ENG

2

0

0

13.3

8

7.0

0

0

3

151

42

Craig Ervine

ZIM

107

9

4

113.8

0

0.0

3

0

3

151

43

Darren Sammy

WI

124

12

5

117.0

1

6.8

0

0

4

150

44

Ed Joyce

IRL

121

13

2

104.3

0

0.0

1

0

2

150

45

Mohammad Nabi

AFG

66

7

1

90.4

2

5.1

1

1

3

149

46

Jason Holder

WI

56

3

4

116.7

5

6.6

1

0

4

148

47

Faf du Plessis

SA

141

8

1

81.5

0

0.0

1

0

3

143

48

Morne Morkel

SA

2

0

0

40.0

6

5.6

1

0

3

141

49

Suresh Raina

IND

80

6

3

131.1

0

4.5

6

0

3

140

50

Lasith Malinga

SL

0

0

0

0.0

6

5.6

1

0

3

138

51

Umesh Yadav

IND

0

0

0

0.0

4

4.4

2

0.5

3

136

52

Glenn Maxwell

AUS

67

11

0

155.8

1

8.0

0

1

2

133

53

James Taylor

ENG

115

11

2

97.5

0

0.0

0

0

3

132

54

Mashrafe Mortaza

BAN

21

4

0

131.3

3

3.8

1

0

2

131

55

Alasdair Evans

SCOT

37

5

0

71.2

3

3.8

0

0

2

130

56

Lahiru Thirimanne

SL

117

11

0

84.2

0

0.0

2

0

3

128

57

Sohail Khan

PAK

8

1

0

44.4

6

6.4

0

0

2

123

58

Dawlat Zadran

AFG

13

2

0

43.3

4

3.8

0

0

2

123

59

Mohd Naveed

UAE

42

3

3

120.0

4

6.6

1

0

3

122

60

Thisara Perera

SL

47

6

1

180.8

2

5.3

1

0

2

122

61

Niall O'Brien

IRL

96

12

0

114.3

0

0.0

0

0

2

122

62

Brad Haddin

AUS

74

9

2

134.5

0

0.0

3

0

2

117

63

George Dockrell

IRL

7

1

0

140.0

4

5.2

2

0

2

116

64

Majid Haq

SCOT

46

6

0

59.7

3

4.9

2

0

3

116

65

Samiullah Shenwari

AFG

176

14

5

60.3

0

4.7

1

0

3

116

66

Misbah-ul-Haq

PAK

83

10

1

79.0

0

0.0

2

1

2

114

67

Denesh Ramdin

WI

74

9

0

77.1

0

0.0

9

0

4

113

68

Ajinkya Rahane

IND

79

7

3

129.5

0

0.0

1

0

3

112

69

Kevin O'Brien

IRL

50

8

2

192.3

3

8.3

2

0

2

111

70

Mirwais Ashraf

AFG

38

1

3

80.9

2

3.7

0

0

2

110

71

Gary Wilson

IRL

81

9

0

108.0

0

0.0

2

0

2

110

72

Ravindra Jadeja

IND

5

0

0

55.6

4

5.0

1

0

3

108

73

H Masakadza

ZIM

86

8

2

93.5

1

6.5

0

0

3

108

74

Dwayne Smith

WI

72

11

1

82.8

0

0.0

2

1

4

107

75

Martin Guptill

NZ

99

13

1

88.4

0

0.0

0

0

4

105

76

M Jayawardene

SL

100

8

1

80.6

0

0.0

1

0

3

102

77

MS Dhoni

IND

36

4

1

150.0

0

0.0

5

1

3

102

78

Rangana Herath

SL

13

2

0

68.4

2

4.2

3

0

3

99

79

Luke Ronchi

NZ

47

6

1

130.6

0

0.0

7

0

4

99

80

Hashim Amla

SA

98

4

1

69.0

0

0.0

4

0

3

98

81

Adam Milne

NZ

1

0

0

20.0

3

4.7

3

0

4

96

82

Sikandar Raza

ZIM

77

12

1

100.0

0

4.7

0

0

3

95

83

Mohammad Tauqir

UAE

3

0

0

42.9

4

5.3

0

0

3

94

84

Matt Machan

SCOT

92

12

1

80.7

0

5.5

1

0

3

93

85

Soumya Sarkar

BAN

53

8

1

132.5

0

4.3

1

0.5

2

92

86

Rilee Rossouw

SA

61

6

1

156.4

0

0.0

0

0

1

90

87

Eoin Morgan

ENG

63

5

2

70.8

0

0.0

2

1

3

87

88

Kyle Coetzer

SCOT

97

16

0

71.9

0

6.3

1

0

3

83

89

Jeevan Mendis

SL

13

1

0

61.9

2

3.6

3

0

2

81

90

Umar Akmal

PAK

59

5

1

78.7

0

0.0

0

1

2

81

91

Tendai Chatara

ZIM

22

2

0

71.0

4

6.3

0

0

3

80

92

Javed Ahmadi

AFG

76

12

0

100.0

0

6.9

0

0

3

78

93

Khurram Khan

UAE

95

9

0

69.9

0

0.0

0

0

3

77

94

Rohit Sharma

IND

72

12

1

88.9

0

0.0

0

0

3

77

95

Matthew Cross

SCOT

52

4

0

68.4

0

0.0

7

0

3

76

96

Ian Bell

ENG

98

7

0

66.7

0

0.0

0

0

3

74

97

Iain Wardlaw

SCOT

1

0

0

33.3

4

6.1

1

0

3

73

98

Jos Buttler

ENG

37

5

0

112.1

0

0.0

5

0

3

72

99

Grant Elliott

NZ

58

7

0

87.9

0

5.5

2

0

4

69

100

David Warner

AUS

56

5

1

93.3

0

0.0

1

0

2

67

Team ' Runs (scored) ' 4s ' 6s ' Strike rate ' W: Wickets taken ' Eco: Economy rate 'Ct St: Catches, stumpings ' Run outs ' M: Matches played ' MVPI: Most valuable player index = sum of batting, bowling and fielding points '*Run outs are counted as 1 (wicket) for a direct hit, and 0.5 (wicket) if the fielder is an equal participant in a run out dismissal.

But it is important that this is a long World Cup (some might argue that it is unnecessarily long) and the first few weeks are largely inconsequential.

So, you can expect many more twists and turns when we head into the knockout rounds, starting with the quarter-finals in a couple of weeks.